| ISLAMABAD - In absence of a proper local government setup in the capital and due to the prevailing adhocism in the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, the city managers once again failed to auction a parking site adjacent to the Centaurus Mall and G-9 bus stand. In the last week, open auctions for both lucrative sites were scheduled to be held but the contractors did not respond to it as there was a sole contender for the G-9 bus stand while three private contractors applied to compete for a site adjacent to the Centaurus Mall.
However, according to concerned officials, none of them properly participated in the bidding process and resultantly the auction of the capital city’s two lucrative sites failed again this time and the process ended inconclusively. Earlier, a similar practice was carried out in November 2022 to auction these two sites and got a bid of Rs.71 million against parking site adjacent to the Centaurus Mall and Rs.66 million for G-9 bus stand but these offered bids were rejected by the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon, who is also the administrator of MCI because the bids were lower than the reserved prices. Sources told that the reserved price at that time and in a recent move for a parking site adjacent to the Centaurus Mall was Rs.104.7 million while it was Rs.85 million for G-9 bus stand.
They informed that in absence of a proper contractor, Directorate of Municipal Administration is managing both sites on its own as stopgap arrangements. It is worth noting here that they claim that millions of rupees are being pocketed by ‘few people’ with the help of high ups on the name of self-collection on a daily basis from these points.
It is not a hidden secret that embezzlements are occurring in the self-collection system of DMA from these points as it was also reflected in a special audit carried out in last year but besides its finding, the authority is stagnant to keep the things on status quo. When contacted, the newly appointed Director DMA Asad Abbas confirmed that the city body could not get the desired bids and informed that the results of an open auction is beyond anybody’s control as it is an open competition. He, however, said that the Administrator MCI has given the approval to shift the self-collection from manual to automation to end the leakage if it is happening.
He informed that a tender to procure the machinery in this regard would be flouted in next few days. cAncELLAtIon of opEn SpAcES Meanwhile, all types of open spaces and temporary permissions given by the Directorate of Municipal Administration have been withdrawn on Tuesday on the orders of Administrator MCI. The permissions include open space licenses regarding seating purpose, placement of generator, deep freezer, erecting shed, car parking and cemented blocks. DMA has requested the Director General Enforcement to carry out an anti-encroachment operation across the city and vacate the state land. |
|
